Mojave Days
by angryalbertthestreetcombatant
Summary: Jack O'Brien went East, looking for work. What he found was a land embroiled in conflict and himself thrust into the middle of it. Rated M because Fallout: New Vegas is rated M.
1. Intro: Author's Note

**Intro: Author's Note**

This is my first story so please be kind. I was inspired by Sheason's Story (which I highly recommend you check out) to write the story of my Fallout: New Vegas character. I love the story of New Vegas it's so rich and well thought out and I just new I had to tell the tale of my character from that. I intend on writing about after the Battle for Hoover Dam, not just in an epilogue sense but in a continuation of the story sense. I also want to try to hit all the DLCs but if I feel like they slow me down I may skip them. We'll see. But definitely leave a review, let me know how I can improve, let me know what you'd like to see and of course if you like the story let me know. I intend on staying as close as I can to established lore a possible so if you notice any lore breaks definitely point them out to me.

Oh and I don't own Fallout. Obviously. If I did Fallout 4 would've been way different.

On with the story.


	2. 1 Into the Land of Wind and Sand

**Chapter 1: Into the Land of Wind and Sand**

A white light. That's all I could see. I thought I was dead for just a second there then the world came back into focus. These four black triangles came together to become a fan and that's when I realized I was looking up at the ceiling. Right after that I realized I was in a bed with a white blanket sitting up to my chest. I started to get up but then-

" _Truth is … the game was rigged from the start." **BANG**_

Then it all came flooding back to me. The delivery, the ambush, and of course the shot to the head. I immediately put my hand up to my forehead and felt along the scar, the new addition to my face.

"You're awake … how about that." I looked over to my left and saw an old man with an impressive mustache sitting in the chair next to me. I started to sit up but the old man put his hand up to slow me down.

"Woah, easy there. Easy. You been out cold a couple of days now… Why don't you just relax a second? Get your bearings."

I finally sat up and took stock of my surroundings. I was in a house, in a bed in the far corner. Around me was some medical equipment and near the doorway to the hall were some shelves with various bits and bobs on them. Up against the wall farthest from me was what looked to be some sort of arcade game. I looked over at the old man as he got a clipboard and pencil from underneath his chair. "Let's see what the damage is. How about your name? Can you tell me your name?"

I shook my head for a moment, then it came back to me. "Jack… Jack O'Brien is my name."

He scribbled down what I assume was my name and then looked back up at me and smiled. "I'm Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings."

Goodsprings. I didn't recognize the name so I figuredI was still in the Mojave. I remembered back what my mom told me about the Mojave.

 _"What makes ya want to traipse around in that hellhole? Don't ya know that there ain't nothin' out there 'cept wind in your face and sand in your-" I cut her off._

" _Mom!"_

" _I was gonna say shoes." She said arms folded as she watched me check my supplies. "_

 _Well, what about New Vegas? That's in the Mojave and people talk about it like it's-"_

 _This time she cut me off. "It's just a wishing well in fancier clothes. People go there to throw their damn caps away on a pipe dream hoping they'll strike it rich."_

 _I raised an eyebrow. "Mom, have you ever been to New Vegas?"_

 _She spit into a little bucket near the door. "No, and I don't need to, it's the same everywhere ya go. Someone's always looking to pull the wool over your eyes and rob ya blind"_

 _I put my hand on her shoulder. "Mom, I'm gonna be fine, you know there just aren't a lot of jobs out here for people like me and I …"_

 _She sighed. "Ya always had this drive for adventure … always wanted to see the world."_

 _I hugged her. "Mom, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna deliver mail. Nobody fu-" She wagged a finger at me. "Language." I sighed and corrected myself._

" _Nobody messes with the people who deliver the mail."_

 _I stepped away from her and put my old 10mm pistol in it's holster. I started towards the door and then my mom spoke again._

" _Be safe Jack, and please, come back soon." I waved to her as I walked out. "Love ya mom!'_

" _Well that makes me the fool I suppose."_

I made a mental note of the name of the town and then Doc Mitchell spoke up again. "Now, I hope you don't mind, but I had to go rooting around there in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out. I take pride in my needlework, but you'd better tell me if I left anything out of place. How'd I do?"

He handed me a small mirror to look at my face with. _"Considering he managed to save my life after I took two to the head, I'll just be happy if I don't look like a damn ghoul"_ I thought to myself. I held up the mirror and took a look. My hair looked bedraggled and a rough beard had started to grow in but I'll be damned if my face didn't look exactly the same, except for my new scar. I handed him back the mirror.

"Well hell Doc, if your medical career doesn't work out you've got a backup as a plastic surgeon!" He laughed. "Well, I got most of it right, anyway." He chuckled. "Stuff that mattered."

"Okay. No sense keeping you in bed anymore. Let's see if we can get you on your feet." The doc came up beside the bed and helped me to my feet. I felt a little dazed as I got up, but I was standing and happy to be doing even that. Most men would've been vegetables or dead if they took two bullets to their brain, so I figured I was either made of iron or Doc Mitchell was a miracle worker.

" _Maybe a little of both, I thought to myself."_ The doc was helping me stand, but he let go of me once he was sure enough I could stand on my own.

"Good. Why don't you walk down to the end of the room? Over by that vigor tester machine there."

I started to walk in that direction but I was a little shakey and started to lean a bit. "Take it slow now. It ain't a race." The doc warned me cautiously.

Finally, I had made it to the 'vigor tester machine' as the doc had called it. With each step I took I was feeling a little closer to the land of the living.

The doc smiled at me and spoke "Looking good so far." He motioned towards the vigor tester "Go ahead and give the vigor tester a try. We'll learn right quick if you got back all your faculties."

As I was using the vigor tester the doc jotted down the scores I got in the different 'SPECIAL' stats.

Then when I was done he spoke again.

"Let's go into the next room. I've got a few more tests I'd like to run." He motioned for me to go into what I assume was the living room. There was a couch and a chair across from it, and a music stand to the side of the chair.

Doc Mitchell continued as we entered the next room. "Well, we know your vitals are good, but that don't mean them bullets didn't leave you nuttier than a Bighorner dropping."

He sat down in the chair next to the sheet music stand and motioned towards the couch across from it. "What do you say you take a seat on my couch and we go through a couple questions? See if your dogs are still barking."

I sat down on the couch and faced Doc Mitchell. For the next fifteen minutes or so Doc Mitchell had me do word association, asked me questions, and should me some strange inky looking pictures and asked what I thought about them. The last one of those looked exactly like two bears high-fiving, it was odd. Finally, when we were done with that Doc Mitchell handed me the clipboard with a form on it.

"Before I turn you loose, I need one more thing from you. I got a form for you to fill out, so I can get a sense of your medical history."

I must've given him a funny look or something when he handed me the form because he added this little gem. "Just a formality. Ain't like I expect to find you got a family history of getting shot in the head."

I laughed a little and then began to fill out the form. Once I was done with that I handed it back to him and he started to get back up. "All right. I guess that about does it. Come with me. I'll see you out."

We headed towards the door, and for a moment I was a little worried because I was still in my underwear. Thankfully the doc pulled a pack of sorts from the shelf and handed it to me. "Here. These are yours. Was all you had on you when you was brought in."

In the pack was my lightweight black leather armor. It was a unique set I'd gotten back in New Reno for a pretty penny, but man did it do the job. I also had a utility belt to hold various bits and bobs like thread and NCR money, I kept my bottle caps in my courier satchel that I slung over my shoulder. In the pack was also my old 10mm pistol, the poor thing was so weathered I wasn't sure how much longer she had in her, but she kept firing so I kept the gun. I also had my little medical book, my binoculars, and my compact weapon repair kit. I went to the other room got changed, kitted up, and walked back into the hallway where Doc Mitchell was waiting for me. He then handed me a note that he got from my stuff. It was the delivery order that I assume had gotten me shot in the head.

"I hope you don't mind but I gave the note a look. I thought it might help me find a next of kin, but it was just something about a platinum chip." I looked at him appreciatively and held out my hand for him to shake.

He shook my hand warmly and smiled. "Thanks for patching me up, Doc." He laughed and patted my shoulder.

"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for." Then he laughed a little and continued. "Anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I'll fix you up." He paused for a moment then added. "… but try not to get killed anymore." Ilaughed at that. "I'll try Doc, but anyway how much do I owe you for the surgery, I'll need some time to get the caps-"

The doc held up his hand to stop me. "Actually it's already been paid for." I looked at him incredulously. "By who?"

"It was paid for by Victor, the metal fella that pulled you outta your grave." Doc Mitchell stroked his chin.

"He's a curious fella, Sort of odd and I don't just mean 'cause he's a robot. I couldn't tell you much about him. He's real friendly, don't get me wrong. You just get the sense that ain't the whole picture. Just a feeling. Keeps to himself, mostly though." I made a mental note of who to question next when I got out of here.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about him?" I asked.

"I'm afraid if you want to know more about him, you'll have to ask him yourself. He has a shack on the southern edge of town."

I still had other questions though, so I didn't head out the door just yet. "Do you know anything about the man that shot me?"

He shook his head. "I didn't see him or the men with him. You might ask around town, though. Could be someone saw which way they was headed."

He paused for a moment then added. "Of the townsfolk, Your best bet would probably be Trudy, the bartender at the saloon up the road. If anyone saw anything, she'd know about it."

As I started to head out the door, the doc stopped me. "Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this."

He handed me a sort of gauntlet with a screen on it. "They call it a Pip-Boy. I grew up in one of them vaults they made before the war. We all got one. Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you been through."

I looked at him, this man didn't know anything about me, but I think he'd be willing to give me the shirt off his back if I needed it. "Thank you, Doc, truly you've shown me more kindness than I've seen in a long while, if there's anyway I can repay you, let me know."

He smiled at me and said. "Well, don't you worry about repaying me, but if you wanted to help the town you might check with Sunny Smiles, she might be needin' an extra hand."

I opened the door and waved back behind me. "Thanks for everything doc!" He waved back and then closed the door behind me.

I was immediately struck by the harshness of the sunlight as my eyes struggled to adjust. Finally I could see and took stock of the town I was in. I could see the two main buildings of the town, the Goodsprings General Store and the Prospector's Saloon. The Saloon had the word 'saloon' made out of mismatched signs which I thought was interesting. On the other side of the road were a bunch of houses where I assumed the town's inhabitants lived and to my left was an abandoned gas station. And down the hill that Doc Mitchell's house was perched on was a robot the likes of which I had never seen before. It was a blueish-green t shaped robot balancing that was rolling around on one wheel. It's arms were like big tubes with big metal … fingers or claws except they weren't sharp on the end. I had huge shoulders and a small white tube running underneath it's shoulders and around it's body. And directly in it's center was a screen with the face of a cowboy.

"That must be the cowboy robot Doc Mitchell was talking about." I mused to myself. "Let's see what he knows." I walked down the little hill and came up behind the robot, but somehow he noticed me first. "He must have sensors or something." I noted to myself.

"Howdy, pardner! Might I say, you're looking fit as a fiddle." I looked at his screen even though I was pretty sure his 'mouth' was below that and who knows where his sensors were.

"Thanks for digging me out of that grave."

The robot waved his claw hand at me. "Don't mention it! I'm always ready to lend a helping hand to a stranger in need."

I grabbed a cigarette out of the pack in my belt and lit it. "Yeah and thanks for paying for the surgery too."

The robot stopped for a moment and then said "I don't recall payin' for your surgery …"

I was confused. "Doc Mitchell seems to think that you did."

He held up his claw as if to say something but then course corrected. "Hmmm well perhaps I did then, I don't rightly recall."

I put the cigarette to my mouth and then continued. "Well how'd you happen to find me anyway?" He shifted a bit where he was standing and the lights on him blinked away doing … whatever they do.

"I was out for a stroll that night when I heard the commotion up at the old bone orchard. Saw what looked like a bunch of bad eggs so I laid low. Once they'd run off, I dug you up to see if you were still kicking. Turns out, you were, so I hauled you off to the Doc right quick."

I took the cigarette out of my mouth to ask him another question. "Do you know who those men were who attacked me?"

He did that thing he kept doing where he'd move forward and back slightly on his wheel. "Can't say that I'm familiar with the rascals. Some of the fine folks in town might be able to help you out with that."

 _"Well he's useful."_ I thought. _"Maybe I can at least get him to answer a curiosity question."_

I took another drag of my cigarette. "I've never seen a robot like you before."

I don't know what it was about his body language but he seemed to get excited by the question, like it was a point of pride for him. "I'm a Securitron, RobCo security model 2060-B. If you ever see any of my brothers, tell them Victor says howdy."

" _That's right Doc Mitchell had mentioned his name was Victor."_ I squinted at him, he was mostly blocking the sun, but sometimes he'd move and it'd hit me in the eyes again.

"How did you end up in Goodsprings?" He moved forward and back on his wheel a bit.

"I moseyed into town, oh, ten, fifteen years ago? Before that, I... hmmm, I can't quite seem to recall. Odd." More recollection problems. Something was definitely up with this robot.

"Anyway, it's a right peaceful town and I reckon it's as fine a place to settle as any." I decided it was time to check out the rest of the town.

"Bye Victor. Thanks again for digging me out of that grave."

He waved his claw at me again. "Happy trails! I'll be seein' you around pardner!" I shuddered a bit at that. It seemed less like a goodbye and more like a promise.

Victor rolled off towards what I assume was his shack and I headed up to the saloon. I walked past an old man sitting and napping in his chair and into the saloon. I was immediately greeted by a blonde woman and her dog.

"Cheyenne, stay. Don't worry, she won't bite, unless I tell her to." The dog sat down and lay at her feet.

"My name's Sunny Smiles and you must be the fella Victor dug out of the grave." She held her hand out to shake.

I shook her hand and then spoke. "Name's Jack O'Brien and yeah I'm the guy."

She chuckled a little bit then asked. "So, what can I do for ya?"

"Well Doc Mitchell said you might need some help around here…" I said.

"Well we do have a bit of a gecko problem around here, but first I gotta see if you can shoot straight, seein' as you did get shot in the head."

I ashed my cigarette. "Fair enough."

She tossed me what the locals call a 'varmint rifle' and motioned towards the door. "Meet me outside, behind the saloon."

I followed her to the back where they had a bunch of Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles balanced on the fence. "Now, see those sarsaparilla bottles on that fence there? Just try and hit a few of them."

I crouched down and took aim. One. Two. Three. I knocked them out in quick succession.

"Alright that was good." She said motioning for me to stop "But I don't reckon you came to me to fight sarsaparilla bottles."

I got up. "Well, no, not unless there's money in it."

She laughed a bit and said. "We're gonna go chase geckos away from our water supply, darn critters are attracted to it."

We left the makeshift shooting range and headed towards the edge of town where the source was. We hid behind a rocky outcropping and I got a look at the source, it had some old machinery and it was surrounded by brush. In the brush were two geckos slinking around.

"Bunch of little monsters is what they are. Seems like Doc Mitchell treats more gecko bites than anything else. Let's see if we can get a little closer. If we move quietly, we can get the jump on 'em. More likely to hit something vital that way." She whispered to me.

I crouched down and started moving towards them. I then took aim with my varmint rifle and fired. I manged to hit the closest one in the eye and it started shrieking, I shot it again and it collapsed in heap. It's friend started booking it towards me so I aimed for its leg. I managed to hobble it but I'll say this the little Gecko was a persistent little bastard. I shot it two times in the chest and that managed to kill it. Sunny walked up to the Geckos and started taking their hide and meat off and putting it into a bag, she also tossed some of the meat to Cheyenne, who nuzzled her hand.

"I sell the hides to traders and the meat goes to Trudy for the saloon, protecting the town from these critters is good work, but it's nice to get some extra money too."

She handed me some caps and said. "Here's your cut, since you did all the killing, there's still two more wells that need clearing if you want to come along."

I shrugged my shoulders and said. "Sure, but why don't we split up, that way we can cover more ground.

"Sounds good to me." She said. "I'm gonna take this well over here, why don't you head to the one that way."

I nodded and headed towards the other well. As I got close I heard screams. I looked over the ridge and saw a white-haired woman fending off three geckos with a cleaver. I laid down on the ridge and took aim with my rifle, I knew I had to be careful not to hit her. I shot at them just enough to draw their attention and then climbed down the ridge and whipped out my 10mm. I shot the closest one to me square in the head and the shot actually detached its head spraying blood everywhere. The next one I shot twice in the chest and it fell pretty quickly. The last one who had already been hit with the cleaver and was swinging it's arms around wildly I aimed for the head and it crumpled to the ground.

The settler was clutching her cleaver pretty hard, but put it away when I came up to her. "Holy Moly! If you hadn't come along I'd have been a goner!"

As she said that Sunny and Cheyenne came trotting down the hill with more gecko hide and meat in bags. "Now that was some good work. Even got a little exciting there at the end. Here's the caps for your trouble."

She passed me some caps and I put them in my satchel. "I'm heading back now. Hope I didn't miss anything good on the jukebox. Cheyenne would never forgive me."

She turned towards the saloon, but then added. "Hey, do me a favor. Trudy - she's the bartender up at the Prospector, kind of the town mom … she likes to meet newcomers. She'd be cross with me if I didn't ask you to poke your head in and say hi."

I pulled another cigarette from my pack and nodded. "Will do." I lit my smoke and made my way back towards the saloon.

When I walked into the saloon I noticed the bar didn't have anyone behind it and a man and a woman were arguing about something.

"I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?" The man said putting his hand on his gun for emphasis. The woman just crossed her arms and scowled at him.

"We'll keep that in mind. Now, if you're not going to buy something, get out."

The man turned and walked towards the door but not before bumping into me and saying "What the hell is your problem?" and continued out the door.

" _What a charming guy."_ I thought to myself. I sat down at the bar and the black haired woman came up on the other side.

She looked at me. "Well, you've been causing quite a stir. Glad I finally got to meet you. Welcome to the Prospector Saloon, my name's Trudy and you are…?"

I smiled at her and ashed the cigarette I was smoking earlier. "I'm Jack … Jack O'Brien."

She started cleaning a glass and then asked me. "What can I get for ya?" I thought back to earlier and then decided to see if I could get a gecko steak.

"Well, that's my specialty." said Trudy. "I've got a great recipe for them, want anything to drink?"

I was gonna order something alcoholic but then I decided against it. "I'll take a Nuka-Cola thanks."

I handed her the caps and she handed me a Nuka-Cola. While she was cooking I decided to ask.

"Who was that you were arguing with?"

She looked up for a moment to answer my question. "He's a convict. Just without the chains. Said his name was Cobb. "Powder Gangers" is what they call themselves. Plenty more like him out there."

She set my gecko steak down in front of me and I started to dig in.

"You like it?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, it's real good." As I continued to eat I asked other questions.

"What were you arguing with Cobb about?" She rubbed her temples and sighed. "It looks like our little town got itself dragged into the middle of something we don't want anything to do with. About a week ago, this trader, Ringo, comes into town. Survivor of an attack, he says. Bad men after him, needs a place to hide. We figured he was just in shock, so we gave him a place to lie low. We didn't actually expect anyone to come after him."

I took another bite of my steak. "Ah and that's where Cobb comes in."

She nodded. "Mhmm."

I remembered to ask her about the man who shot me. "I'm trying to track down the people who attacked me. Know anything about them?"

She went back to washing some dishes as she answered my questions. "Not much, other than they're a bunch of freeloaders who expected a few rounds on the house. I was able to get them to pay up, though." She said proudly.

"Of course, one of the Great Khans did knock my radio to the floor "by accident," and it hasn't been working since." She motioned over behind her over to the radio. It looked alright from where I was sitting, but I couldn't tell.

I'm pretty handy though so I figured I could offer my help. "Want me to take a look at your broken radio?" I asked her.

Trudy's face lit up a bit and she kind of reminded me of my mom. "Sure. The outside looks okay, but I think something broke on the inside. There'd be caps in it for you. I do like to hear what's going on in the world. And that Mr. New Vegas seems like such a gentleman."

I walked around to the other side of the bar and took a look at the radio. I opened the casing on it and realized that the most damage to it was that some wires had come loose, after replugging those back into place the radio came back to life. "I fixed your radio." I said. "

Yep, I heard it turn right back on after you got done tinkering with it. Here's some caps for the work." I put the caps in my satchel and sat back down in my seat at the bar.

"Did my attackers say where they were going?"

Trudy started on wiping down the bar. "They were having some kind of argument about it, but the guy in the checkered coat kept shushing them. I didn't hear exactly, but the leader was talking about the Strip. Fella wants to get there and avoid the 15, he'd have to go east. Take Highway 93 up."

This all seemed like a big showdown that I'd gotten myself right in the middle of. _"_ _Hmmm_ _I wonder if she knows anything about Victor..."_ I thought to myself.

"Do you know the robot that rescued me?" I asked.

Trudy made a face that implied she wasn't a fan of his. "I know that... thing... as much as anyone else around here. It mostly keeps to itself, which is just fine by me."

I finished up my steak and then decided to get clarification on Trudy's reaction to Victor. "You don't like him? I said.

"It acts friendly enough, but I don't trust that whole "cheerful cowboy" act. I find it all very creepy."

I started to wonder what it was Victor was in Goodsprings for so I asked. "What does he actually do around here?"

Trudy huffed at that and folded her arms. "Other than rolling around once in awhile, it doesn't do anything useful as far as I can tell. I don't know why it took an interest in you, but I'd be careful. It's never helped anyone before."

With those word of caution I finished my Nuka-Cola and the decided I'd see if I couldn't go help Ringo and by association the town out of this jam. "Where is Ringo now?"

"He's holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill. If you can help sneak him out of town or get him out of this trouble with Cobb and the Powder Gangers, I'll set you up with a discount." With that I got up from my seat and headed out the door.


	3. 2 High Noon

**Chapter 2: High Noon**

It wasn't too hard to find where Ringo had been hiding, after all I'd seen the gas station when I left Doc Mitchell's. I made my way up from the saloon to the Poseidon Energy Gas Station I'd seen. As I approached the door, I thought about knocking, but figured this Ringo would be able to tell I wasn't a Powder Ganger or whatever it was they were called. When I walked in the guy who I assumed was Ringo pulled a gun out and pointed it at me. I put my hands in front of me (and away from my gun to calm him a bit).

"That's close enough. Who are you, and what do you want with me?" he said.

" _Shoulda knocked"_ I chided myself.

"I'm not an enemy, if that's what you're asking."

His expression softened and he holstered his gun and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about the gun. You just caught me off guard, that's all. We got off to a bad start. What say we start over with a friendly game of Caravan?"

I waved him off. "Don't worry about it, but I'm not here to play card games, I'm here to help you with your problem."

His face lit up at that and he got excited, but then his expression fell. "We'd just end up sharing the same grave if it's just the two of us."

I decided to see what Ringo knew about Cobb, maybe that would give us an edge. "What do you know about Cobb?"

Ringo narrowed his eyes and looked almost … smug maybe. "His name is full name is Joe Cobb I think, he doesn't look very tough, though. I hear he's afraid I'll shoot him down from one of the windows when I see him, and he's right."

I looked around the little gas station for windows, but I didn't see any.

"I'll have a much bigger problem once his friends show up. There's no way I could handle all of them in a gunfight." He slumped down against the wall and started shuffling his deck of cards, you'd think he'd been sentenced to death and honestly that wasn't too far from the truth, so I decided to see if I could cheer him up a little.

"I've never played Caravan before what are the rules?"

After explaining the rules of Caravan to me, we started playing and Ringo seemed a bit happier. Now, I figured I could ask him a few more questions. "So, why are the Powder Gangers out to get you?"

He looked down at his cards and then looked up at me and sighed. "My caravan was on the return trip from California and heading back up to the company branch in New Vegas when we got jumped. Not even a "drop your weapons and hands up" before the bullets started flying. We put up a good fight, but there was too many of them."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and continued. "I took a few of the bandits down before I ran, so I figure their friends are out for revenge." He shrugged.

I played the next of my cards and then continued. "How many Powder Gangers are out there? I mean of the ones after you specifically."

Ringo look intently at his cards and then up at me to answer the question. "At least a dozen, I'd say. And that was just the group that attacked us. For all I know, they've got a lot more friends lurking around."

I looked back at my hand and then over to Ringo. He was looking at his cards and the board trying to determine his next move. _"He doesn't deserve to be hunted like this."_ I thought. _"Just a good man trying to make his way in the world, maybe the people of this town would help him. They're good folk too."_

I put down my cards which got Ringo's attention. "What's up?" He asked.

"Maybe the townsfolk would help you out, they seem really nice and they've helped me since I was attacked."

Ringo sighed and put his cards down. "I can't ask them to do anymore, they're already not handing me over to Cobb. He's threatening them constantly, it's my fault that-"

I cut him off mid sentence. "It's not your fault, if it wasn't you Cobb would've come here to harass this town eventually with some other flimsy excuse."

Ringo nodded. "Now, I'm gonna go back into town and see if I can't round some people up to help fight these thugs."

Ringo got up and leaned up against the wall. "Well, I suppose I can't stop you. If you're gonna ask around town maybe start with Sunny Smiles. She's been the friendliest around here."

I nodded and made my way for the door as Ringo added one last thing. "Good luck and … thank you."

I stepped back into the sunlight and headed down into the town. It was in the late afternoon now according to my Pip-boy so I needed to be quick about this if I wanted to have as many people to help out as possible. I walked past the old man sitting in the chair and entered the saloon. Sunny was sitting at a table near the jukebox and petting Cheyenne affectionately.

"Who's my good girl. You are! Yes you are-" She noticed me and stopped petting Cheyenne. "Oh Jack I uh didn't see you there… how're you?"

I smiled a bit and gave Cheyenne a scratch behind the ears and then sat in the seat across from Sunny. "I'm good Sunny, but uh I'm going to help Ringo take on the Powder Gangers. I might need your help."

Without missing a beat Sunny responded. "Say no more. I'm in."

I was a little taken aback by that. "Just like that?" I asked quizzically.

"Just like that. Joe Cobb talks about leaving us alone if we hand over Ringo, but I know his type. He and his friends will come after the town eventually… However, between you, me, and Ringo, we aren't exactly a force to be reckoned with."

I nodded in agreement. "Who else do you think would help us out?"

Sunny thought about it for a moment then said. "A lot of people around here look up to Trudy. If you could convince Trudy to join us, some of the folks in town might decide to help out as well."

I nodded. "Any ideas on how to convince Trudy to join us?"

Sunny thought about it for a moment then said "A silver tongue would help." and then she added "Convincing Trudy that we had a good plan to win the fight would also help."

I leaned back in my chair. "Okay I'm gonna go talk to Trudy I'll be right back." I said getting up from my seat.

I walked into the next room with the bar where Trudy was washing glasses. "So, you're planning on taking on Joe Cobb's gang. It's a big risk, but I suppose you have to do what you think is right." She said over her shoulder.

I must've look surprised because then she added "I could here you talking to Sunny in the other room."

She turned around to face me. "You should help me take down the Powder Gang. Bullets, explosions, lots of fun." I said confidently.

"Hmmm well, I was planning on sitting this one out, but for some reason I can't help but like you. I'm with you. Let me have a word with a few other folks and I'll see if I can't round up some more members for this militia you're creating."

I turned to go back to Sunny but Trudy stopped me. "Hold on. While everyone does own a gun, we could stand to be a little better equipped. The general store probably has what we need in stock." I nodded and walked back to Sunny.

"Trudy's with us, but she says the people in town could stand to be better equipped."

Sunny thought for a moment. "I know Easy Pete's got a stock of dynamite somewhere, and Chet just got a shipment of leather armor we could borrow."

I didn't know who either of those people where, so I asked. "Who're Easy Pete and Chet?"

Sunny turned her head like she was surprised by that. "Well, I'm surprised you haven't met them yet. Easy Pete is the old fella sittin' out side in the chair and Chet runs the general store next door to here."

I nodded. "How can I get Easy Pete's dynamite?" I asked.

"Easy Pete's pretty protective of his dynamite. You'd have to convince him you know a thing or two about explosives before he handed it over."

I stroked my chin. "And Chet? He would be willing to give us his supplies?"

Sunny snorted at that. "Hmph, I don't think "give" is in Chet's vocabulary. Even with the town at stake, he'd still make you barter with him."

I sighed then spoke again. "Alright, I'm gonna see if I can't get those two on board." Sunny nodded and I headed out the door.

 _In the shadow of the valley_

 _I would like to settle down_

 _Wide open space_

 _Wind on my face_

I saw Easy Pete sitting in the same chair when I first came in. He had the radio on and looked to be dozing off. "Easy Pete?" I asked.

He woke from his nap and looked up at me with sleepy eyes. "Howdy. What can Easy Pete do for you?"

I decided to indulge my curiosity a moment. "Why are you called Easy Pete?"

He yawned, stretched a bit, and readjusted himself in his chair. "Was a prospector until I decided to settle here to get away from the NCR. Now I just take it easy and help out with the Brahmin and Bighorners."

I hadn't heard the term prospector in a long time so I decided to ask about that. "You were a prospector - like digging for gold and silver?"

He shook his head. "Nah, nah - means I poked through old buildings looking for working tech and such. Some folks just call it "salvaging," but never liked the term. Way I see it, salvage means it's broken, near-worthless. Me, I looked for the good stuff - guns, chems, spare parts. Good money in it."

I decided to change the subject. "What's wrong with the NCR?"

He leaned forward in his chair. "Don't get me wrong - the NCR's got a lot of decent folk in it. It's just that they make you part of them whether you like it or not. Towns like Goodsprings and Primm don't stay independent for long, not if you've got something the NCR wants. Still, the NCR keeps the Legion away."

Now, that piqued my interest. "The Legion? Who are they? A raider gang?"

He shook his head. "No, no they're a nation of slavers led by a guy named Caesar … or 'Kai-sar'. Not sure how you're supposed to say it. A couple of years ago they tried to take over Hoover Dam, but the NCR beat them back. The NCR didn't - or couldn't - finish the job, though. The Legion's got its strength back and is getting ready for another round at the Dam. My money's still on the NCR winning, but you never know."

He leaned back in his chair. "We've been hearing stories about Legionaries on the Nevada side of the river, so keep a gun handy. You don't want to get caught by them."

 _"That's an ominous warning."_ I said to myself. I figured I'd see if he knew anything about the Powder Gangers and if he did maybe he'd be more willing to help us fight them.

"Do you know anything about Joe Cobb and the Powder Gangers?"

He spit into a little bucket next to his chair. "Bad trouble."

I sighed. _"That's helpful."_ I thought to myself.

"I hear you've got dynamite. It would help us beat the Powder Gangers."

He shook his head. "Too dangerous. Gonna kill all yourselves if I let you touch it. Better to leave it buried - safer that way."

Sunny did say he was gonna take some convincing. "I'm familiar with the care and handling of explosives, dynamite included."

He raised an eyebrow. "How'd you learn about explosives?"

I smiled. "I did some work for a caravan a while back, they taught me how to use them just in case a building or some rocks came down and blocked our way."

He seemed placated. "Uh huh. Guess you know what you're doing. I'll go dig it up and get it ready. You'll have it by the time the fighting starts."

Success! "Alright, I'm gonna go talk to some of the others in town. Thanks for your help Easy Pete!"

He just rocked in his chair a bit. "Welcome."

I stepped off the porch of the saloon and headed over to the general store. It was easy to get to because it was right next door when I headed in I passed by a big blue mail box that had "Mojave Express" written on the side. _"Don't know when I'll ever need to use that but_ _good to know it's there I suppose..."_ I mused.

I walked into the store and got a look around. It had a lot of random junk with price tags beneath them. Behind the counter was a guy who I assumed was Chet.

He looked up from sweeping to greet me, looking surprised. "You must be the one Doc Mitchell was patching up. The way I heard it, I didn't think you'd be walking out of that office."

I picked up one of the magazines on shelves. "11 caps for that." Chet said quickly.

"I'm just looking." I set it down and walked up to him. "What do you know about the situation with the Powder Gangers?"

Chet folded his arms, looking annoyed. "If Ringo doesn't head out on his own, I think we should hand him over. The town shouldn't get itself mixed into the problem." I made a face at him and he added "Don't mistake that for coward talk, though. We're a town of survivors, and we'll fight tooth and nail if pushed, but we don't go looking for trouble."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Well speaking of fighting, the townsfolk are organizing a militia to fight the Powder Gangers. They will need supplies."

Chet shook his head. "Now just hold on. I never voted to take on the Powder Gangers. That's a thousand cap investment you're talking about."

Sunny did say I'd have to barter with him. "The town's at stake. That has to be worth more than a few supplies."

His expression didn't change. "Look, you're bringing this on yourselves. There's no way I'm getting involved. But, hey, I'm sure you can buy what you need..."

I got in his face a bit after that comment. "Let them take over the town, then. I'm sure your business will be much better off." I smirked.

Chet held his hands in front of him. "You made your point. I can provide people with some leather armor and extra ammo. I sure hope it's worth it."

He then looked around shiftily before adding "And, uh, I'll be guarding the store while all this is going on. I have to put my business first, you understand."

I nodded, but then noticed a scope and silencer in the far corner. "I'll buy those off you."

After Chet rung me up for my purchases I headed out the door. I attached the scope and silencer to the varmint rifle Sunny had given me earlier to make a sort of makeshift sniper rifle. I headed back into the saloon where Trudy had some of the townsfolk gathered and Sunny was making some repairs to her weapon.

"Alright Sunny, I got Easy Pete to supply us with dynamite and Chet is going to let us borrow the leather armor and give us some extra ammo for the fight."

Sunny looked at me almost incredulously. "Chet is going to … give… are you sure?"

I nodded. "Uh huh, but he's going to be guarding his store during the fight, you understand." I said, sarcastically imitating what Chet had said earlier.

"That sounds more like Chet. Well okay with the 'militia' using Easy Pete's dynamite and the Powder Gangers likely using some too we could end up all end up with extra holes in us. Could you check with Doc Mitchell and see if he has any extra supplies he could cough up?"

I nodded and once again headed out the door.

I stepped outside again and made my way up towards Doc Mitchell's house on the hill. I noticed Easy Pete was absent from his chair. _"He must've gone to dig up his dynamite."_ I noted.

I made my way across the little town to Doc Mitchell's place and knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" He called from inside.

"Can't move too fast with my bum leg." He opened the door and looked at me with surprise.

"Welcome back. I had hoped you wouldn't need to come see me again so soon. What can I do for you?" He motioned for me to come inside.

"Well Doc it's not for me." I said as we walked inside.

He sat down in his chair and motioned for me to sit, but I shook my head. "The town is going to be attacked by bandits. Is there anything you can do to help?"

He stroked his chin and leaned back. "Seems like wherever I go it's always the same. Folks just never leave each other alone." He sighed. "I'm not much good in a fight, with my bum leg. And my supplies are scarce. But I'll give you what I can spare."

He got up and I followed him to the other room where he opened a little white metal box and handed me some stimpacks.

"I really appreciate this Doc, but um They'll be using explosives. Do you have something for more serious injuries?"

He pulled out a little black bag and was about to open it, but instead just handed me the whole thing. "I ain't got much, but it'll do you more good out there than it will in here. Take what I got."

I smiled at him and shook his hand. "Thank you once again Doc."

He smiled and shook his head. "No thank you, most people wouldn't stick around and help folks like you're doin'" I waved at his and headed for the door.

As I got outside a thought hit me. _"Victor. This is his town too. He might be willing to lend a hand. He did save_ _my_ _life after all."_

I turned towards the direction of his shack and headed down the little dirt road down from the hill Doc Mitchell's house was on. His shack was exactly that. A 'building' cobbled together from sheet metal and other various junk. Notably it also had an extra large door, likely because Victor was a large robot. I reached up to knock on the door, but it swung open before I could and I was staring face to face with the unblinking smiling cowboy.

"Victor." I said, surprised that he knew I was coming.

"Howdy, pardner! What can ole Vic do for ya?" I eyed him suspiciously but then decided to get to the point.

"Are you decent in a fight? I could use more firepower, if you've got it."

He tapped his claw to the bottom of his screen as if he was stroking his chin. "Trouble with rustlers? Count me in, pardner! Those varmints will be running home with their tails between their legs soon enough."

I continued to eye him suspiciously. "That easy?"

Victor rocked on his wheel a bit. "I saved your life so I kinda feel responsible for you is all."

I wasn't so sure, but I wasn't going to turn down the help. "Alright Victor, it'll probably go down tomorrow around noon or so."

His screen flickered a bit and then he spoke again. "I'll be there pardner!"

I waved goodbye and he waved one of his claw hands at me. He watched me walk away and then closed the door to his shack. _"Trudy's right, there's something off about Victor, but I can't figure out what it is… oh well, we could use the help of a big robot in this fight."_ I pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and walked into the saloon.

"So anyone have any questions about the plan?" Sunny said, wrapping up her 'presentation'. Most everyone in the room shook their heads no. I ashed my cigarette and walked up to Sunny.

"Here I got these supplies from Doc Mitchell." I passed her the stimpacks except for one, which I kept for me and then I passed her the bag as well. "

Great!" she said "Hopefully we won't have to use them…"

I shook my head. "That'd be nice, but these are hardened criminals we're dealing with here."

She sat down at the table where there was a map of Goodsprings that Sunny had drawn on.

"Oh, I should say, Victor's with us." I sat down in the seat across from her.

"Victor? The robot?" She looked at me in disbelief.

"Yeah he said he felt responsible for me." I sighed. "So, that's everyone. I guess I'll let Ringo know where we're at."

Sunny nodded. "We're expecting Joe Cobb and his gang are gonna roll into town about noon or so."

I examined the map, it had x's and lines drawn all over it to show everyone where they should attack from. "I'll stay with Ringo for the night, I think he's got an extra sleeping bag." I took out another cigarette, but didn't light it yet.

"Okay, I'll come get you two when the Powder Gangers arrive, be ready." I nodded and got up from the table.

It was dark out when I left the saloon. I headed up to the gas station and knocked on the door. "It's me!" I called out. Ringo opened the door. "I'm staying here tonight." I told him. "Just in case they try a sneak attack during the night, you'll need someone to cover you."

He smiled. "Alright that sounds good. I've got an extra sleeping bag for you."

It wasn't that late yet, though, so we stayed up and played Caravan and a few other card games for a while. Finally, it was time to lie down though.

"You've been running around all day." Ringo said. "So, I'll take first watch, you get some sleep."

I nodded at him and unrolled the sleeping bag he was letting me borrow. I unzipped the bag and laid it out, then crawled inside. I didn't realize how tired I was so I feel asleep pretty quickly.

 _In my dream I could see a city of lights in the distance, crawling with robots like Victor. Father out I could see a diamond shaped sign, but I couldn't read what it said. It felt like I was flying out over this_ _strange_ _land. A bullet went flying from the sign and killed a raider who was ducked behind a car his blood splattering over my face. Suddenly I was far away from the city, where men in sports equipment where marching and a flag with a bull on it flapped in the wind. Now I was farther out, lying on the ground. I could here the sound of digging and I was surrounded by a gang wearing black. Standing in the middle was a man in a checkered coat._ _I tried to break free of my bindings but it was no use._

" _You got what you were after, so pay up!" said one of the gang members, but the man in the checkered coat just ignored him._

" _You're cryin' in the rain, pally." He said._

" _Guess who's wakin' up over here." Said the gang member with the orange-yellow mohawk._

 _The man in the checkered coat, dropped his cigarette on the ground and rubbed it into the ground with his shoe. "Time to cash out." He said plainly._

" _Would you get it over with?" Said the other gang member, but the man in the checkered coat held a finger up to quiet him._

" _Maybe Khans kill people without lookin' em in the face, but I ain't a fink. Dig?" He reached into his jacket and pulled out a poker chip._

 _The poker chip. The delivery I was supposed to make. "You've made your last delivery kid." He said, almost apologetically._

 _He put the chip back and then pulled out a very ornate looking pistol. "Sorry you got twisted up in this scene."_

 _My eyes followed the gun as held it towards the ground, then I looked back up at him. "From where you're kneeling, it must seem like an eighteen karat run of bad luck." He pointed the gun at me. "But the truth is … the game was rigged from the start."_ _ **BANG.**_

 _My world went black again, but now I was standing over myself in my shallow grave. Suddenly I could see Victor rolling up the hill. His face was different though, angry almost, but he quickly switched back to_ _his usual_ _smiling_ _face_ _._ _He started digging me out and the wind picked up causing a massive dust storm. I began to float away and then-_

Ringo woke me from my sleep. "Hey I'm gonna get some shut-eye, would you mind being on watch for a bit?"

I rubbed my eyes. "No I don't mind." I said yawning. I leaned up against the counter, near the door and began my watch.

It was about noon or so when Ringo and I heard frantic banging on the door.

"It's me, Sunny." I heard her say. I opened the door to let her in. "Time to look alive. The Powder Gangers are here to play."

I nodded to Ringo and he readied his weapon. I did one last check on my varmint rifle and my 10mm. "How many are there?" I said.

"At least eight or so, Joe Cobb included. They look pretty mean."

"Where's Trudy and the rest?" She motioned behind her. "They're getting set up in cover, but it might not go well unless we get out there soon."

She turned to head out the door, but then stopped and handed me something. "Oh, Easy Pete came through with the dynamite. Here's your supply. I really hope I don't blow myself up."

I tucked the three sticks into one of the pockets on my belt. _"Things are about to get interesting."_

When we were all outside Sunny pointed over towards the general store. "I'll be set up near the store. Let's hope that the gang doesn't manage to make it that far." I nodded in agreement and then made my way towards the derelict truck. Ringo pointed his gun across the hood and I mounted my varmint rifle on the truck's driver side window.

I could see them in the distance, they were all wearing the standard purple prison uniform provided by the NCRCF, but with various modifications.

One guy wasn't even wearing a shirt, but he did have a really cool desperado hat. _"If we win this, I'm taking that hat."_ I thought to myself. Next to me Ringo was trying to steady himself. I looked around for Victor, but I didn't see him anywhere.

" _He should be here, he knows what's going down and he said he'd help."_ I thought. _"Oh well, don't have time to worry about it, gotta focus on the now."_ I looked through my scope and in the center of the group I could see Joe Cobb. He was wearing a bulletproof vest so a head shot or hitting him with dynamite would be ideal. I aimed down the sights, trained my rifle on him, held my breath and click.

I fired my rifle and hit his square in the head. Cobb put his hands up and dropped his gun. He shakily felt the bullet wound where I hit him in the head was and then crumpled to the ground. I didn't have time to celebrate though because one of the Powder Gangers, the one with the cool hat, came up on our side of the truck, swinging his cleaver wildly.

Meanwhile the rest of the town had erupted in gunfire and explosions. The Powder Ganger kept swinging his cleaver at me, and I kept jumping backwards to avoid him. I pulled my 10mm out, aimed and suddenly three shots to the chest and he fell flat in front of me. I looked behind me to see Ringo, his gun smoking.

"Thanks for the save." I said.

"Don't mention it." I looked over the truck to see all the Powder Gangers dead or standing with their hands held in the air.

"We did it!" I heard Sunny yell from a few yards away. "We beat the Powder Gangers!"

Ringo did a fist pump and then ran to Joe Cobb's body and kicked it. "And that's for Sherrie, and that's for Tommy, and that's for Bill and this is for…" He kicked him a few more times then grabbed something off of him. Then he came back over to me.

"Thank you, thank all of you. If you guys hadn't come through for me I'd be in the same state as our mutual friend over there." He smiled.

Sunny and Trudy held each other warmly and then walked over to me and Ringo. "I'm glad that business is over. I like it when Goodsprings is nice and quiet." Trudy said, with Sunny's arm draped around her. Sunny whispered something in her ear and she laughed a bit.

Ringo shook their hands and then shook mine. "I owe you a huge favor for this. Here - these are technically Crimson Caravan funds, but I know they'll understand once I explain things." He handed me a baggie of caps.

"I didn't do it for the money, Ringo." I said trying to hand the caps back to him, but he just shook his head.

"Take it, I owe you more than that even, so look me up at the Crimson Caravan camp up in New Vegas if you ever visit." I nodded.

"Well, I'll be heading out soon myself. Sunny, can you suggest a route towards Primm."

Sunny let go of Trudy and motioned for my arm. "Sure, I'll just show you on your Pip-Boy here."

After she did that, I faced the whole group. "Thank you all so much, I've gotta head out soon, but you've all shown so much kindness and I can't thank you enough." They all smiled at me. I turned and began to head out of town when I realized I forgot something.

I came up on Victor's metal shack and knocked loudly on the door. "Victor! Victor! Are you in there?" I heard the tell-tale sound of a tire rolling across the floor and Victor opened the door.

"Howdy, pardner! What can ole Vic do for ya?" His screen constantly showing that smiling cowboy.

"Some good you were. You didn't even show up to the fight!"

He held his claws up. "Now just hold on! I meant it when I said I'd help you… I guess I must've dozed off."

I looked at him incredulously. "You're a robot how the hell do you doze off?"

His screen flickered a bit. "I don't rightly know…" He held a claw up to his screen to imitate stroking his chin.

I kept eying him. _"Trudy's right there is_ _definitely_ _something up with this robot."_ I thought to myself. Maybe I could find out what's wrong with him if he'd let me look inside him, and possibly find out why he rescued me in the first place.

"Maybe something's broken in one of your computer parts." I said. "Let me take a look."

He put his claws up to stop me. "No offense, pardner, but I'd rather not have you rooting around in there. It's technical-like."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Well, maybe you should get a mechanic or a scientist to look at you. Robots don't just doze off."

He shrugged. "Sorry, pardner I just don't know what to say…"

I waved him off. "Forget it. I'll see you around I guess." As I turned to leave he waved at me. "See ya round pardner!"

I made may as far as the truck and stopped at one of the dead Powder Gangers, the one with the nice hat. "I'll take that." I said as I took his hat off his head and put it on my own. I walked past the general store, past the saloon, to the sign on the outskirts of town and looked back. "Goodbye Goodsprings." I said to no one in particular. "I'll see ya around." I turned back and hit the road.

 _Yippy yay, there'll be no wedding bells for today_

 _I've got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle  
As I go riding merrily along  
And they sing, oh, ain't you glad you're single?  
And that song ain't so very far from wrong _


	4. 3 Lucky

**Chapter 3: Lucky**

The sun was beating down on my hat, when I left Goodsprings. _"Damn it sure is hot out here."_ I took a swig of water from my canteen and strapped it back to my belt. As I made my way down the road, I saw a sign, next to a shack sitting at the fork in the road.

 **Jean's Sky Diving**

" _I don't know if I'd want to skydiving from a place that operates out of a rickety looking shack..."_ I thought to myself. Suddenly I heard someone's voice down below behind the shack.

"Where the hell is Cobb?" said the voice. "He should be here by now, that town should've been easy pickins'"

"I'm not his mother!" said another voice. "How the hell should I know where he's at?"

I made my way over to the shack and peeked around the right side of it. Down some stairs were some old rusted planes and two Powder Gangers mulling around. One looked like he was in his late thirties the other looked like he wasn't older than twenty-two at most. I pulled my 10mm out of it's holster and crawled prone along the ground till I had a clear shot over the ridge. I took aim. Click. Two bullets to the head the older one crumpled to the ground. The younger Powder Ganger saw me, but before he could make a move I had my gun trained on him.

"Drop your weapons!" I yelled. He quickly threw out his gun and dropped the pool cue he had on the ground. "And the dynamite too!" I yelled. I knew Powder Gangers usually carried a stick or two on them.

"I don't have any!" He yelled back at me.

"Well you better produce some from your ass or I'm shootin' you dead." He panicked and dropped the dynamite on the ground. I smiled to myself. _"Knew it."_ I got up keeping my gun trained on him. "Hands up!" I yelled as I crept down the stairs. He immediately threw his hands into the air. I was now face-to-face with him. "Kneel!" I yelled.

"W-What?" He asked.

"I said kneel!" I motioned downwards with my gun. He quickly knelt on the ground. "I don't… I don't… I don't want to die."

I kept my gun pointed at him. "You're not gonna die today, if you follow my instructions and answer all my questions, comprenede?" He nodded rapidly.

"What's your name?" I asked. "They call me Raygun at the-"

"No! Not the name those dumbasses gave you, the name your mother or whoever gave you."

He was shaking now. "Raymond. My name is Raymond."

I lowered my gun a bit. "Alright Raymond, why where you in prison."

He looked downwards trying not to face me. "I … I… stole some th-th-things."

I shook my head. "That's not all is it."

He shook his head. "I killed a m-m-m-man. I d-d-din't mean to, it just happened. I just n-n-n-needed money."

I kept my gun on him. "Well today is your lucky day, we're gonna do our best to make things right… do you have a mother or father or some sort of parental figure in your life?"

Raymond had a confused look on his face. "My mom… lives in… the Hub."

I let my gun drop just a bit. "Well, here's what your gonna do. You're gonna go into this shack over here and your gonna look for new clothes."

He nodded. "You're gonna change clothes and leave your Powder Ganger outfit with me, and then you're gonna make your way up to the little town up the ways."

I motioned towards Goodsprings. "You're gonna offer your services, whatever they be to the townspeople there and when you've earned enough caps you're gonna go back to Hub."

He nodded again. "Then you're gonna hug your mom like you never have before and you're gonna tell her you're sorry for everything you've done." He nodded again, he looked like he was about to cry.

"Now go on."

He tentatively got up and ran inside the shack. About ten minutes later he came out, dressed in khaki shorts and a shirt that said "Jean's Sky Diving" on the front with a picture of a guy falling out of the sky with a big smile and two thumbs up. I was leaning up against the shack so he just handed me his prison uniform.

I took it from him, stuffed it into my pack and spoke again. "Now before I let you go there are two more pieces of business we have to discuss."

He looked at me nervously. "Item one: If you cause trouble in that town or don't show up I'll know about it, you know why?"

He looked at his feet. "N-no..."

I held up my Pip-boy. "There's a robot in that town, you can ask about him. He's only ever helped me and that's because he works for me." I lied through my teeth. "And he'll transmit to me whether or not you've arrived right onto my Pip-boy here."

He nodded. "So, you better be there. Okay?" He nodded again.

"Item two: You're gonna show me where all the Powder Ganger encampments between here and Primm are."

After he marked their camp on the map I let him go. He ran as fast as he could in the direction of Goodsprings and as soon as he was out of sight I turned and continued on my way to Primm. The journey there was mostly uneventful, with only a few encounters with bloatflies and geckos. Finally, I came up on the town of the Primm, with it's huge wrecked roller coaster setting the back drop for the town. As I was about to head in a man in brown armor with a two-headed bear on it approached me.

"Where do you think you're going, Primm's off limits to civilians."

I stopped and stared at him and then took a cigarette out from my pack. "I've got business in Primm." I lit it and got in his face a bit. "And you're not gonna stop me."

He glared at me then folded his arms. "It's your ass. I'd talk to the L-T though, he's in the tent up the road."

I took a drag from my cigarette and tipped my hat. "I'll keep that in mind." I said and I pushed past him into town.

I past by his little post towards a grouping of tents next to some ruined buildings. _"This must be where the NCR is holed up at."_ I noticed another NCR soldier mulling around the fire between the tents. _"Maybe this is the lieutenant that the soldier mentioned."_ I thought to myself. "Hey!" I said. He turned around to face me. "Are you in charge around here?"

He shook his head no. "No, I'm Sergeant McGee of the New California Republic Army, 5th Battalion, 1st Company."

I took another drag of my cigarette. _"What a mouthful."_ I thought.

"The lieutenant is in the tent." He motioned back to one of the tents behind him. "What's your business with the L-T?"

I looked him over. "No business with the L-T, I've got business in Primm and apparently I can't go in until I talk to the man in charge here." I glared at him a bit. _"The NCR and their red tape."_

He shrugged and then stepped aside. "Go on ahead."

I walked past him and opened the flap to the tent he mentioned. A man in a beret immediately got up and addressed me. "I'm Lieutenant Hayes of the New California Republic Army, 5th Battalion, 1st Company. What's your business?"

I smoked my cigarette a bit more. _"Are they all going to give me their exact rank in the NCR, because that's gonna get exhausting real quick."_ I mused to myself. "I'm trying to get into Primm, but one of your soldiers said I need to see you first."

I got a look at Hayes. He looked exhausted as he sat back in his chair. He sighed. "Primm's been taken over by convicts from the correctional facility nearby, if you want to go in there, I won't stop you." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But I won't lie, you'll be going in without support and there are a lot of convicts in there."

I ashed my cigarette and folded my arms. "Do you have any information on the convicts or the correctional facility?"

He sighed. I pulled a cigarette from my pack and offered it to him. He took it and I lit it for him. "Not much, they're convicts from the NCRCF or NCR Correctional Facility that's north of here. According to intel…" He took a drag from the cigarette. "An anti-NCR terrorist and anarchist named Samuel Cooke organized a coup and took control of the facility, but apparently he's gone north now."

Hayes leaned back in his chair. "The convicts have taken to calling themselves Powder Gangers." He said the name Powder Gangers with venom. "Mostly because they've taken to using the explosives meant to clear boulders as weapons."

He sighed again and took another drag. "They got organized faster than I would have thought, most of them at least." He made a little motion circular motion with the cigarette. "Thankfully the small group in town here seem to have split off from the main force, so they aren't getting anything in the way of support."

I nodded. "Thanks for your help Lieutenant."

He stood up. "No problem, oh one another thing."

I stopped mid turn. "We have landmines on the bridge between here and Primm proper so watch out for those, we don't want you to lose a leg and we don't have any mines to spare." I nodded, then headed out the door into the afternoon sun.

After shimmying across the side of the bridge I was finally in Primm proper. I got the lay of the land and saw my target, a big building that said "Mojave Express" on the top. Hopefully there'd still be people there. Unfortunately between me and the Mojave Express were three convicts guarding the town. These convicts had shed their NCRCF clothes in favor of standard wasteland garb, almost as if to confirm what Hayes was saying. I spied a ruined building with stairs up to a second floor. I walked around the back of it and ran up stairs, where I set my varmint rifle on the space where the window used to be. I took aim at the convict closest to me. Click. I got him in the neck and blood came splattering out across the ground. He put his hand up to stop the bleeding, but I tagged him again through his mouth and he crumpled to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Unfortunately the other two noticed me. One of them started shooting wildly in my direction and I tagged him in the arm and he dropped the gun. I hit him again in the chest and another time in the chest and he collapsed. The other convict however, had a tire iron ready and rushed my position so I slung my varmint rifle over my shoulder, whipped out my 10mm and waited for him to come up the stairs. As soon as I saw his dirt covered face I trained my gun on him and click. Nothing happened. No bullet, nothing.

" _Damn of all the times for a jam."_ The convict rushed me and hit me in the arm with the tire iron. It hurt like hell. I rolled away from him, but he was running up on me again. So, I did what any sensible man would do in this situation. I took my 10mm and smashed it as hard I could against his face. I heard his nose crack and he staggered back. He shook it off and swung his tire iron at my leg. Ouch. I swung my varmint rifle off my shoulder and hit him in the head again with the butt of my rifle.

"Godchdamitsch." He sputtered out through the blood. I aimed my varmint rifle at his head and click. The bullet splattered his brains on the floor and he finally fell.

I looked over my injuries on my arm and leg. Nothing major, but I had some ugly colored welts where that tire iron connected with my body. After checking the convicts with guns for spare ammo, I headed over to the Mojave Express building. Slumped outside was a dead man with a satchel. _"Another courier."_ I thought. _"At the rate we're getting killed no one's gonna see their mail for a long time..."_ I mused.

I reached down and opened his satchel. A delivery order and his Mojave Express employee ID. _"Let's see his name is … Daniel Wyand."_ His eyes were still wide open from when he was shot so I closed them. "I'm gonna get the people who did this to you Daniel." I said to no one. I took another look at the poor guy and then headed inside.

 _"_ _Just my luck, there's nobody in here."_ I thought as I looked around the abandoned Mojave Express office. I was going to leave when I noticed a strange looking robot on the counter. I took a look at it and noticed it had some bullet holes in it. I took a look around the office for anything I could use as spare parts and tried to get the robot running again. After about twenty minutes of tinkering the robot hummed to life. Its little thrusters fired and soon it was floating around. I noticed a little piece of paper it had been sitting on with a list of commands.

"Okay… let's try this." I pulled a little connector off of my Pip-Boy and plugged it into him. It brought up a keyboard of sorts on my screen, but unfortunately I had to use the knob on my Pip-Boy to select each letter individually.

"Companion Protocol::Begin" I typed. The robot beeped a bit and then I typed something else.

"Voice Commands::Acknowledge" He beeped some more so I figured that must have worked.

"What's your name little guy?" I asked. Suddenly a recording began to play from his speaker.

"ED-E, whenever you're ready. Yes! Success! Ahem...um...reporting full success on reporting 369248/b, ED-E was able to interface with and override the test panel in under 3 seconds-" The recording ended abruptly.

"So, ED-E is your name huh?" He beeped a bit. "Well, I guess you'll be sticking with me buddy!" He beeped again and followed me out the door.

I stepped back outside into the late afternoon sun setting on Primm. I still hadn't gotten any information on my attackers, but at least now I had a cool robot. "Open storage please ED-E."

He beeped and his sides opened. I took my plastic bags of caps out of my satchel and put them in his compartments. "Okay buddy close storage."

His compartments closed and he beeped some more at me. _"Man he's going to make my life so much easier."_ I thought to myself.

" _Okay if anyone's left alive, they're probably..."_ I looked around at the two other notable buildings in Primm. _"It looked like the convicts came out of the Bison Steve, so any survivors are probably in the Vikki and Vance."_ I made my way to the front door of the Vikki and Vance casino and knocked on the door.

This time I knocked on the door. A gruff voice came from the other side. "You Powder Gangsters shoulda known better then to try to come here!" The door swung open and an old man pointed a shotgun at me.

I put my hands up immediately. "Whoa, Whoa take it easy, I'm not a Powder Ganger, I'm a courier with the Mojave Express."

His eyes narrowed at me, I could tell he didn't have the best vision. He motioned with his shotgun. "Step inside, it's too dangerous to talk out here."

I stepped inside the casino and the whole time the old man kept his shotgun on me. I could tell he didn't believe me yet. The casino was pretty spacious and I could tell that all the people of Primm were hiding out here. In the center of the casino was an old shot up car and a Protectron robot wearing a cowboy hat. _"Neat."_ I thought.

The old man kept eying me. "You said you're a courier?" I nodded. "I'll need to see some ID." I reached into my satchel and pulled out my Mojave Express employee ID and handed to him. He pulled out some reading glasses and looked it over then handed at back to me. "I guess you're who you say you are." He said as I put my ID back.

"I don't know what it was brought you to Primm, youngster, but you might want to rethink your plans. Town's gone to hell."

I gave him a crooked smile. "Yeah I kinda noticed."

His expression didn't change. "And I don't got any work for couriers right now, sorry to say."

I shook my head. "I got jumped by a gang and they stole my package, I'm trying to get info on either my attackers or the package itself."

His face softened a bit and he finally lowered his shotgun. "I'm sorry youngster, this job's not supposed to be so dangerous, but these are turbulent times." He motioned over to a table and chairs in the corner. "Let's have a seat and we can talk more."

We sat at the table and an older lady, who I assumed was his wife dropped off some water at the table. "Thanks, darlin'." He said to her, then he looked over to me and held out his hand. "I didn't introduce myself, Johnson Nash's my name. Husband to Ruby Nash. Lived in Primm going on eight years now, thick and thin. I'm a trader primarily, for what it's worth with things like they are. I also run the local Mojave Express outpost."

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, he looked like he'd been through hell. "I'm Jack O'Brien courier and problem solver." I shook his hand and he smiled. Then I reached into my bag and grabbed the deliver order for the package I was originally transporting out.

"Can you tell me anything about this?" I handed him the slip of paper.

He adjusted his glasses and read the order then handed it back to me. "Oh, so you're talking about one of them packages. That job had strange written all over it. But the company couldn't turn down the caps."

I rubbed my scar where the man in the checkered suit had shot me. "What was strange about the job?" I asked.

"That cowboy robot had us hire six couriers and had me send a request to the Express office in Hub. Each was carrying something a little different. A pair of dice, a chess piece, that kind of stuff."

I thought back to Daniel Wyand's order. "Last word I had from the office, it looked like payment had been received for the other five jobs. Guess it was just your chip that didn't make it."

I nodded and then examined the delivery order. "You said cowboy robot, was it like the one over there." I pointed at the Protectron.

He shook his head. "No, no. Different had a screen with the face of a cowboy on it."

The color left my face. _"Victor."_ was all I could think.

Nash continued. "First deadbeatwe hired to do the job canceled. Hope a storm from the Divide skins him alive. Well, that's where you came in." Not everyone has my kind of work ethic.

"So, the men who stole my package. A man in a checkered suit and some thugs, has anyone seen anybody like that?"

Nash stroked his chin. "Well, now that you mention it, a few nights back one of the townies was out scavenging for supplies. He said he saw a fella with a daisy suit come through with some of them Great Khan misfits. They was talking about a chip."

That was definitely the guys, but I needed info on where they were headed. "One of those men shot me. I need to know where to go to intercept them."

Nash leaned back in his chair. "Well for that your best bet is going to be talking to Deputy Beagle. Since they came to town he was keeping a good bit of notes on them, and he was slinking around Bison Steve when your pretty-boy friend came through."

I smiled. _"Now we're getting somewhere."_ I took a sip of the water that Nash's wife left us. "Where's Deputy Beagle now?"

His face feel and then he sort of moved his mouth side-to-side. "He's been kidnapped by the Powder Gangsters. Boy was 'bout as useful as tits on a radscorpion. Only qualification he ever had was to be brother to the wife of the sheriff. Still, I s'pose he don't deserve what's befell him. We would've considered paying the ransom, if we'd had caps to spare."

I rubbed my temples. _"Great now I'm gonna have to organize a rescue mission."_ I got up from the table. "I'm gonna go find Beagle and get him out."

Nash looked surprised, but not displeased. "Alright well, if that's what you want to do. The gangsters are hold up in the Bison Steve, next door, you can't miss it."

At this moment Nash finally noticed ED-E hovering behind me. "Oh you fixed the robot." I nodded. "Well, he's yours now, congrats on getting' him to work finally." I nodded again and made my way for the door.

The Bison Steve had definitely seen better days. It's roller coaster had long since collapsed and the paint was peeling off all sides of the building. I crouched down and quietly pushed my way through the door and opened it enough to let ED-E in too. There were no guards directly at the door, which was surprising to me.

" _Idiots."_ I thought. I kept my rifle out in front of me and then spotted two guards. I slid over to the tables they had overturned to use as barricades. One of the convicts was sitting in the chair asleep, probably passed out from drugs the other was pacing up and down the hallway.

I waited for them to both be in the same area and then, I suddenly heard music. ED-E blasted the sleeping guard with lasers. With no time to think I hit the pacing guard square in the face with my rifle and he fell to the floor, the sleeping guard now smoking with all the laser bolts he had taken. I went up to the guard who had been pacing and shot him again, just in case. Down the hallway was an elevator and a maintenance door, but right next to the bench that the dead convict was lying on was a doorway to what looked like a little store.

 _"Maybe there'll be some supplies in there."_ I thought. I quickly turned on my Pip-Boy's light and looked around. The stores shelves had junk and debris on them, so nothing useful there. I smashed open the cash register and inside was moldy stacks of pre-war money. I was just about to leave the room when I noticed a safe on the floor.

" _Jackpot."_ I smiled and got out my bobby pins. I fiddled with the lock for a bit and after breaking two pins, I got the safe open.

In it was a box with a card on it. "Lucky." It said. "Winner of the 2074 Pistol Expo and Winner of the 2075 Guns and Ammo Fair, Primm, Nevada."

I opened the box and in it was a 357. Magnum Revolver, but it wasn't like any I'd seen before. It was made of a smooth black metal, with ornate gold etchings and a polished ivory handle. The handle was inlaid with the clubs symbol you'd see on playing cards and it had the word "Lucky" engraved on a silver plate below the barrel. It was a beautiful gun.

There was also a few boxes of ammo for it in the safe and the guard that was now dead on the bench also happened to be carrying a 357. so I got some ammo off of him too. I'd have taken his gun, but much like Joe Cobb's it was in serious disrepair and fixing it would've just taken more of my time. I holstered Lucky and made my way to the maintenance door, next to the elevator. I crouched down and got to work picking the look, while ED-E watched my back. The door gave pretty quickly and soon I was moving down the hallway. I found myself in the kitchen with two convicts and a man tied up, kneeling on the floor. I snuck up behind one of them pulled Lucky out and pulled the trigger blasting his brains out. The other convict who had been kicking the man who I assumed to be Beagle whipped around and shot at me. I slid onto the floor, swung myself around the side of the island and shot him right between the eyes.

I'd always been a pretty good shot, but now that Lucky was in my life I felt like there wasn't a shot I could miss. Another convict, who I assumed to be the leader of this crew burst through the double doors wildly spouting off his flamer. I stayed look aimed at the tank on his back and fired. A jet of flame came forth from the bullet hole and then the thing exploded incinerating the guy. Two more convicts rushed into the room. The one on the left got a bullet to the brain and his head actually splattered apart. The other got felled by a barrage of laser fire. The last convict came running into the room swing a pool cue wildly. I shot his hand and he dropped it and then I shot him right in the forehead. He crumpled in a head next to his dead associates. I opened Lucky shook the empty shells out and reloaded her. Then I walked over to the man who was tied up.

He looked up at me and smiled a crooked smile. "I don't suppose you came here to rescue me? I'd cross my fingers but my hands are numb."

I holstered Lucky and crossed my arms. "You must be Deputy Beagle." He smiled some more. "I heard you have information on the Great Khans and the man in the checkered suit who came through here." He struggled against his binds a bit and then flashed me another smile.

"Indeed I do good sir, and I would be thrilled to share that information with you as soon as I am released from captivity."

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'll set you free-"

He got excited. "Oh that's just marvelous. Simply marvelous. I cannot thank you enough."

I held up a finger to shush him. "But If you try to run away instead of fighting at my side, I'll kill you myself."

He gulped at that. "Oh! Why, uh, of course! I would never let you fight my kidnappers with my help. Uh, without it! You lead the way!" I helped him up and he held out his hands. I pulled my straight razor from my pack and cut through the rope tied around his hands. He rubbed his wrists and grabbed a gun off one of the convicts. We made our way down the maintenance hall and out into the hallway towards the door. Honestly, I probably didn't have to make him stay with me, most of the cons on this floor were dead, but he was so cowardly I couldn't help but make him show a little spine. We made our way out into the foyer of the Bison Steve past the convict's table barricade and finally back out into Primm.


End file.
